A picture-by-picture walkthrough for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV — first connecting a source, then using the app. Every screenshot on this page is the real app running against a real server; nothing is mocked up.
Jump to your device
iPhone guide — connecting a source and using every screen. The setup steps are the same on every device, so start here whichever you own.
iPad guide — the same app with a layout that uses the extra width.
Apple TV guide — the 10-foot interface, driven by the remote.
What Ultimate Media Player is
Ultimate Media Player is a video player for media you already own. It ships no content of its own and streams nothing from us. You point it at a media server or a network share you control, and it builds a browsable library from what it finds there — with artwork, cast, ratings, subtitles and resume positions.
What it can connect to
Media servers — Jellyfin and Plex. Libraries, artwork and watch state come from the server, and your playback progress is reported back to it.
Network shares — SMB (NAS boxes, Windows shares, macOS file sharing), FTP and WebDAV. The app scans the share, identifies the files and fetches artwork and metadata for them.
On the device — a local folder you pick, a direct URL, or titles you have downloaded for offline playback.
What it does with them
A grouped library with films and TV shows separated and episodes gathered under their series · artwork, synopses, cast and ratings from TMDB and OMDb · subtitle search and download · resume across every device signed in to the same server · offline downloads · Picture in Picture · and a 10-foot interface on Apple TV.
iPhone — just want to look around first?
1Open the app
On a fresh install the Home screen shows a sample library. Those titles are placeholders so the app isn't empty while you look around — they disappear the moment you add a real source.
If you want to see the app working properly before wiring up your own server, tap Load a demo library.
2The demo library
One tap connects the app to the public Jellyfin demo server. No account, no password and nothing to configure. Home fills with real titles, a Continue Watching row and a Next Up row, and everything in the app becomes explorable — including playback.
Reviewers: this is the quickest way to evaluate the app without a media server of your own. It connects exactly like any other Jellyfin source, so what you see is the real product, not a special mode. It retires itself automatically as soon as you add a source of your own, and comes back if you remove them all.
Connecting your own source
Everything starts in the same place: Settings → Add Movies/TV Shows. From here you can add a share, connect a media server, paste a direct URL, or reach your downloads.
1Open Add Movies/TV Shows
Go to the Settings tab and tap Add Movies/TV Shows. The Locations group is where new sources are added; Saved Shares below it lists what you have already connected.
2Let the app find your server
Tap Add Movie/TV Shows share. The app scans your local network and lists what it finds under Available Shares — media servers and SMB hosts alike. Tapping one pre-fills its address for you.
Below that, Network Shares and Media Servers let you type an address in by hand if your server isn't discoverable.
The first time the app scans, iOS asks for permission to find devices on your local network. If you decline, discovery stays empty — you can still add a server by typing its address, or re-enable it later in iOS Settings → Ultimate Player → Local Network.
Option A — a media server (Jellyfin or Plex)
3Enter the server address
Picking a discovered server fills in its display name and address for you. Add the username and password for your account on that server — these are your Jellyfin or Plex credentials, not an Ultimate Media Player account. There is no such thing as an Ultimate Media Player account.
4Or skip the password entirely
Jellyfin servers support Quick Connect. Tap it and the app shows a short code — approve that code from any device already signed in to your Jellyfin (the web dashboard, or the app on another device) and you are signed in without typing a password at all.
5Connect and scan
With the details filled in, Connect & Scan becomes available. The app signs in, reads your libraries and builds the browsable library. A small collection is ready in seconds; a large one keeps filling in artwork in the background while you browse.
iOS may offer to save the password to your keychain afterwards — that prompt is from iOS, not from the app, and either answer is fine.
6Confirm it worked
Back in Settings, each connected source gets a live status card: a green Live dot when the server is reachable, and a breakdown of what was found — files, movies, shows and unidentified "others". The circular arrow rescans that source.
Home now leads with your own library.
Option B — a network share (SMB, FTP or WebDAV)
A share has no notion of a library, so the app scans the files itself and then identifies them. SMB is shown here; FTP and WebDAV use the same form with a different port.
3Fill in the share details
Choose Add SMB under Network Shares. The fields are:
- Display name — optional; what you want to call it in the app.
- Host / IP — your NAS or PC address, e.g.
192.168.1.20ornas.local. - Port — 445 for SMB unless your server uses a custom one.
- Share name — the shared folder to scan, e.g.
Movies. - Folder path — optional; a sub-folder inside the share, to narrow the scan.
- Username / Password — leave both empty to connect as a guest.
- Domain — only for Windows-domain networks; leave blank otherwise.
4Connect & Scan
The app connects, walks the share and identifies what it finds. Scanning a large share takes longer than a media server, because the app is reading the files rather than being handed a catalogue.
One share per folder. If your media is split across
Movies and TVShows, add each as its own share — repeat this step with the
other share name. They appear as separate sources but merge into one library.
5Both shares connected
Saved Shares now lists each share with its path and how many items it holds. Tapping the pencil opens the actions for that source.
6Your library
The Library tab shows everything from every source, sorted alphabetically with a jump rail down the side. Films and TV shows are separated, and episodes are gathered under their series rather than listed individually.
Managing your sources
Tap the pencil beside any saved share for its actions:
- Edit — change the address or credentials.
- Rescan — look for new files.
- Refresh metadata — fetch artwork and details again.
- Clear metadata — discard what was fetched and start over.
- Remove share — disconnect it and drop its titles from the library.
Removing a source never touches the files on your server or NAS — it only disconnects it here.
Finding your way around
A film
Tap any poster for its detail page: artwork, runtime, release date, certification, genres, synopsis, ratings from TMDB, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and the cast.
The row of buttons under Play covers marking watched, downloading for offline, trailers, your own rating, and sharing. The ⋯ button at the top right adds the title to your Watchlist, a playlist or a collection, and offers Edit Metadata.
A TV show
A series opens on the episode you are most likely to want next — the one you were part-way through, or the one after the last you finished. The episode strip runs along the bottom; tapping an episode retargets the Play button without leaving the page.
The player
Tap once to show or hide the controls. You get a scrubber with the current position and total runtime, skip buttons either side of play/pause, and along the bottom edge: playback settings (subtitles, audio track, speed), AirPlay, and file information.
Playback streams directly from your server or share — nothing is copied to the device unless you explicitly download it. Position is saved continuously, so leaving mid-film and coming back resumes where you were.
Picking up where you left off
Leave a title part-way through and its Play button becomes Resume with the exact position. The same title also appears in Continue Watching on Home. With a Jellyfin or Plex server, that position is reported back to the server, so it follows you to other devices.
Settings, screen by screen
Settings
The top of the Settings tab is a live status card per source — reachability, and a breakdown of what was found. Below it are the sections covered here.
About & Legal holds the app version, this support site, the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and the open-source acknowledgements. Quote the version from there if you get in touch.
On iPad
Everything above applies, with a layout that uses the extra width. The steps and field names are identical.
Settings is two panes
Categories stay on the left and the selected one opens beside them, so you never lose your place. Source status cards sit in the right-hand pane.
Adding a source
The same discovery list and the same forms — and on iPad the share form carries its field guide inline, under the button.
Browsing
Library becomes a wider grid, Search lays its Browse categories out in columns, and a title's detail page puts the poster and actions beside the synopsis and cast instead of below them — including the technical file information for the selected title.
On Apple TV
Apple TV runs the same app against the same sources, but the interface is built for a remote and a sofa rather than a touchscreen. Everything is driven by the directional pad to move the highlight, Select to choose, and Menu to go back.
Home
The focused title fills the screen. Its artwork becomes the backdrop and its details — logo, score, year, runtime, certification, genres and synopsis — sit in the top-left corner, updating as you move along the row. One row is on screen at a time; press Down and the next row rises into the same place, so your eye never has to chase it.
Getting around
Press Left from anywhere to open the navigation rail. It expands over the page with Home, Library, Search and Settings, plus Refresh at the top to rescan your sources.
Moving the highlight only browses — the screen behind does not change until you press Select. Selecting a destination takes you there and hands focus to that screen, so you can carry straight on without a second press.
Library
Everything from every source, as a grid of posters. The highlight stays in place and the grid moves under it, so the card you are looking at is always in the same spot on screen.
Search
The search field sits at the centre of the screen — press Select on it to bring up the on-screen keyboard. Below it, Browse reaches playlists, genres, unwatched titles and the rest without typing anything.
Connecting a source on Apple TV
The steps match iPhone and iPad — the same fields, the same servers — but Settings is laid out as two panes, so you never leave the list to see what you are changing.
1Open Settings
Categories run down the left; the selected one opens beside them. Sources shows a live card per connected server or share — a green Live dot when it is reachable, and what the scan found.
2Find your server
Choose Add Movies/TV Shows, then Add Movie/TV Shows share.
Servers found on your network appear under Available Shares; selecting one fills in its address. Network Shares and Media Servers below let you type an address by hand.
3Fill in the details
The form is the one described in the iPhone section — host, port, share name, and a username and password if the share needs them. Press Select on a field to type; the Apple TV keyboard appears, and Menu returns you to the form.
A Jellyfin server is easier still: use Quick Connect and approve the code from your phone or a browser, rather than entering a password with the remote.
A title
Poster and actions on the left, everything else on the right: title treatment, runtime, release date, resolution, genres, synopsis, ratings and cast. If you have watched part of it, the button reads Resume with the position — the same progress your phone and iPad see, when the source is a media server.
Playing
Press Select to show or hide the controls. The bar carries the title, a scrubber with position and runtime, and buttons for playback settings and subtitles. Left and Right on the seek bar skip by the amount set in Settings → Playback → Forward / Backward Skip, and the remote's own Play/Pause button works from anywhere.
A few Apple TV differences worth knowing. There are no downloads — an Apple TV is mains-powered and on the same network as the server it streams from, so the section is hidden. Gesture and orientation settings don't appear either, since there is no touchscreen and no rotation. And a setting with several choices opens a small menu when you press Select on it, rather than cycling.
If something goes wrong
My server doesn't appear when I scan
Discovery needs local-network permission — check iOS Settings → Ultimate Player → Local Network. Some networks (guest Wi-Fi, and many corporate ones) block the discovery traffic entirely; in that case type the address in by hand under Network Shares or Media Servers. Also confirm the device and the server are on the same network — a phone on cellular can't see your NAS.
It connects but no videos appear
Check the share name is the shared folder itself rather than a path inside it, and that the account you used can read that folder. If the share holds sub-folders, leave Folder path empty so the whole share is scanned. The status card in Settings shows what the scan actually found.
Titles show up as "others"
"Others" means the file was found but not yet identified. Give metadata fetching a moment to catch up,
then use Refresh metadata on the source. Files identify far more reliably when named
Title (Year) for films and Show S01E02 for episodes. Anything that stays
unidentified is still playable — you can also fix it by hand with Edit Metadata.
A video won't play, or plays with no picture
Ultimate Media Player falls back to its own decoder for formats iOS can't play natively, but some combinations still need transcoding on the server. If you are on a media server, try enabling transcoding there. If playback stutters over a share, raise Streaming Cache in Settings → Playback.
Subtitles are missing or out of sync
Subtitles embedded in the file and sidecar .srt files beside it are both picked up
automatically. Otherwise search for one from the player's settings button. Size, colour and background
are in Settings → Playback → Subtitles.
Getting in touch
If none of the above helps, see the Support page for how to reach us. It helps enormously to include the app version from Settings → About & Legal, the kind of server or share you are connecting to, and what you expected to happen.